The Rightful Queen

Forty-five: Zain

Nuriya was officially mine. She was going to be my queen soon. We needed to start the wedding preparations. If it was possible, I would have married her on the same night as her birthday, but she didn't deserve a rushed wedding. I was going to give her the best wedding ever. She deserved that.

It had been two days since I proposed to her in front of everyone. The whole kingdom knew that their king was about to get married. I was hoping that having Nuriya by my side would make me rule my two kingdoms in a better way.

"There's something I want to tell you," I told her as the two of us walked down the hallways of the palace.

"What is it?" she wondered, looking at me. She looked as gorgeous as always. Her cashmere gown suited her.

"Please don't freak out, but today I signed a paper that stated if anything happens to me before our wedding, the crown will be given to you, which means you will be the queen of Vinadra and Carbilia." A loud gasp escaped her as she stopped in her track and looked at me with wide eyes.

"This is a joke, right?" she said and I shook my head. "Are you out of your mind, Zain? First of all, nothing will happen to you. Nothing. Second, how would you know that I would be a good ruler? You don't know that and I definitely don't know that. You can't do this, Zain. This isn't right." As expected, she was freaking out.

"When we get married, you'll become a queen, not a queen consort. Do you understand the difference?" I spoke calmly to her and she slowly nodded.

"But I will have you by my side. I will just help you when you need my help," she told me. What was that look on her face? I only saw her that scared once when Laith slapped her.

"You do realise that I may get assassinated at any moment and in that case, you'll become the official and sole ruler of the kingdoms?" she visibly flinched when I mentioned being assassinated.

"Please don't say that," she murmured, wrapping her arms around me. "You have to promise me that you'll always be careful," she whispered.

"For a queen, you get so worked up when I mention the possibility of my getting hurt," I pointed out, wrapping my arms around her.

"Because I love you. Because I can't imagine seeing you hurt," she whispered, tightening her hold a little around me. I sometimes felt that I didn't realize how much I meant to her. She loved me more than I could ever fathom.

"And I love you too. I love you more than you could ever realize." I felt her melt into me as I told her that. "Nuriya, I know how strong you are. I know what you're capable of. You can rule with or without me. I want you to be sure of that no matter what." she slowly nodded even though I could see how she did not like what I was saying. I wanted her to be strong though. All the time.

"I'm stronger with you, though," she told me as we pulled away. Didn't she understand that she had to be strong with or without me? It was a necessity.

"You're strong with or without me. Always remember that. Promise me that you'll accept the throne if anything happens to me." For a few seconds, she paled a little, but she quickly recovered.

"I will accept it," she murmured, looking into my eyes.

"Thank you," I said, kissing her lips.

I took her hand in mine and guided her through the hallways to my office. Once we walked inside, I showed her how to open the vault. I trusted her enough to give her the code. I was blindly in love with her and I blindly trusted her. I trusted her with my life. I owed this woman my life. She saved me more than once and I would forever be grateful for that.

"Let me show you the most important papers around," I told her and she frowned.

"Why are you doing all of this? Are you scared of something? Did you receive any threats?" she quietly asked, concern and worry taking over her voice.

"You need to calm down." I cupped her cheeks and kissed her forehead. "I'm fine and I swear, I didn't receive any threats. I just trust you, a lot. I want you to know everything about the kingdoms."

"Okay," she nodded, taking a shaky breath. Her fear was quite weird. I didn't know what she was thinking, but it was crystal clear that her demons were toying with her thoughts. I needed to relieve her of her pain. She needed to breathe. Maybe it was wrong of me to dump everything on her so suddenly. Perhaps she wasn't emotionally ready. Everything was changing for her so fast and she needed time to adjust.

"I feel like I worried you enough and you deserve a break," I said, wrapping one arm around her waist. I loved being close to her. I never wanted to let her go. "How about a night out as commoners?" Her face lit up upon hearing that. I knew she wanted to repeat that night ever since the first time.

" I would love that!" she beamed, making me chuckle.

"I will come to your chambers to take you, yeah?" She immediately nodded. I was so looking forward to taking her out. Her happiness was indescribable and I wanted to see her that happy again.

"What should I wear?" she wondered, resting one arm on my shoulder.

"I'll take care of that. Did you like last time's outfit?" I asked her.

"It was perfect." She made it perfect.

"I will send you another one." Perhaps that night was all that she needed to forget about her worries.

_______________________________________________________________________________

If only he could understand why she's that scared of losing him🙁🙁

Published on September 7th, 2022

Sara